Gulf Keystone Petroleum Regulatory News (GKP)

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 19 February 2016

Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP)

("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")

Shaikan Payment Update

Gulf Keystone Petroleum, a leading independent operator and producer in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is pleased to announce today that the Kurdistan Regional Government has authorised a gross payment of US$15 million (US$12 million net to Gulf Keystone) to the Company.

Further to the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources ("MNR") press release of 1 February 2016, this payment is being made on the basis of the Company's monthly contractual revenue entitlement under the Shaikan Production Sharing Contract ("PSC") for Shaikan crude oil exports in January 2016 of US$5.8 million gross. In addition to the monthly entitlement, a payment of US$9.2 million gross is being made towards the recovery of the arrears.

Once the payment has been received, the Company will issue a further update.

Commenting on today's announcement, Jón Ferrier, CEO, said:

"We are pleased to continue receiving regular monthly payments for Shaikan crude oil exports in 2016, now under the terms of the PSC, as announced by the MNR, which we welcome. We thank the MNR for their support in a programme which accelerates the recovery of the arrears."

Enquiries:

or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com

Notes to Editors:

· Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (LSE: GKP) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

· Gulf Keystone Petroleum International (GKPI) holds Production Sharing Contracts for four exploration blocks in Kurdistan, the Shaikan, Sheikh Adi, Ber Bahr and Akri-Bijeel blocks.

· GKPI is the operator of the Shaikan block, which is a major commercial discovery, with a working interest of 75% and is partnered with MOL Kalegran Limited (a 100% subsidiary of MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas plc.) and Texas Keystone Inc., which have working interests of 20% and 5% respectively. 

· Following the establishment of a regular payment cycle for all oil sales and arrears, Gulf Keystone plans to move into the large-scale phased development of the Shaikan field targeting 110,000 bopd of production capacity during Phase 1 of the Shaikan Field Development Plan.

Disclaimer

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements. These statements are made by the Company's Directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the time of their approval of this announcement but such statements should be treated with caution due to inherent uncertainties, including both economic and business factors, underlying such forward-looking information. This announcement has been prepared solely to provide additional information to shareholders to assess the Group's strategies and the potential for those strategies to succeed. This announcement should not be relied on by any other party or for any other purpose.